Haiti and New Orleans

Catalog description

Haiti is inexorably tied to New Orleans through historic and contemporary through lines beginning with the only successful rebellion by enslaved people in the Americans that eventually led to independence of Haiti and to this small island nation becoming the first free Black country in the entire world in 1804. As a result of the defeat of the French army in St. Domingue, Napoleon yielded the French territory to the U.S. government in the form of the Louisiana Purchase. Throughout the late 1700’s and early 1800’s, the revolution’s impact was felt throughout the U.S. South and by 1809, 10,000 Haitians arrived in New Orleans, doubling the population. There are parallels between New Orleans and Haiti in the areas of architecture, cuisine, cultural celebrations, and music that emerge to even the casual observer. Even though a majority of Haitian settlers from the early 20th century in the New Orleans Ninth Ward area were displaced by events surrounding Hurricane Katrina, immigrant communities of Haitians, particularly on the West Bank of New Orleans have grown due to the contemporary political and natural disasters within the island country. This first-year seminar course will examine the fascinating history and contemporary landscape of the connective tissue between Haiti and New Orleans through a range of readings, reflections, class discussions, as well as through experiential elements including field trips.